Stats: Fewer sharing rides

Despite higher gas prices, drivers tend to go it alone

Larry Simons slashed the cost of his 50-mile round trip to work by two-thirds several years ago.

Simons, supervisor of the West Texas A&M University carpenter shop, carpools to the Canyon campus from Happy with two co-workers.

Each man drives for a week at a time on a rotating basis, Simons said, estimating the cost of his week's worth of driving at about $50.

The arrangement works so well the trio would take on another passenger "but we all drive a pickup, so three of us is all that can ride," he said.

The carpooling carpenters are part of a commuting minority, however.

By 2005, only 10.7 percent of American commuters were carpooling, down from 12.2 percent in 2000, according to statistics just released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Meanwhile, the share of people driving alone increased slightly, to 77 percent in 2005.

The figures jibe, anecdotally, with Mark Hiner's attempt to gauge interest in carpooling among WT employees a few years ago, when gas prices hit $2.25 a gallon. The small number of respondents to the questionnaire sent out by Hiner, WT director of personnel services, said they already had formed carpools.

But the majority expressed preference for driving alone by their silence.

"We're creatures of habit, Hiner said. "We'd all rather climb in our own vehicles and listen to our own music on the way to work. I keep thinking gas prices are going to overcome all that, but it sure didn't when we were trying to arrange the carpool service."

The portion of Americans taking public transit also is low: 4.7 percent.

Ridership has increased on the 12 buses the city of Amarillo runs on fixed routes and on the city's SpecTrans bus service for people who have disabilities, said city Transit Manager Judy Phelps.

But most commuters haven't reached the point where they'll exchange commuting time for the savings on gas, Phelps said.

"People are very time sensitive. They're already pushed to the limit," she said. "Amarillo is a car town. You can get across town in 15 minutes. ... Some of our bus routes are an hour and 15 minutes long.

"People here, I think, will drive if fuel costs $5 a gallon, and the main reason is our city is not built in a way that supports public transportation."

What that means, Phelps said, is that people can't find the wide range of services within steps of a bus stop that they can in more densely packed urban areas.

"In cities that are built to support public transportation, you can get off the bus, stop by a cleaners, pick up your grocery store items, stop at the child-care center, and then you could walk home within a couple of blocks," she said.

Operation of the bus system continues to be a struggle as the city lays out more for diesel fuel and pulls in less in federal funding administered by the state, she said.

The city received $545,114 this fiscal year to operate both the fixed-route system and SpecTrans, down from the $672,980 allotted in 2003-04.

"And it gets worse," Phelps said, explaining that funding in 2009-10 is expected to be $400,156.

"It is so bleak. So far, the city has been able to make up the difference. However, I do not know if that trend can continue. It's not just our fuel budget, it's police, fire, solid waste (collection)."